When it comes to caring for your home and property, it is critical to have the right tools for the job. One of the more underrated tools to have at your disposal is a pressure washer. You don’t realize until you have one just how many applications a device like that has.
If you have been hemming and hawing about what kind of pressure washer to buy, there are a few things worth considering. When all is said and done, you will wind up with a tool that you will use far more often than you had once considered.
Why Own a Pressure Washer?
When considering something like Karcher pressure washers from Sydney Tools, it helps to know why you are looking to own a pressure washer in the first place. If you are unfamiliar, a pressure washer can help you take care a lot of cleaning and maintenance that otherwise would have been impossible.
Spray your decks, patios, porches, brick and concrete exteriors, walkways, gutters, fences, concrete steps, patio furniture, and even windows, among other things. You don’t realize just how many things require pressure washing until you own a home and begin to care for everything. Your pressure washer will come in handy far more often than you may have expected in your home improvement journey.
Gas or Electric?
One of the biggest questions to ask when buying a pressure washer is, “Gas or electric?” They are very similar to one another but there are some key differences that make one more ideal than the other for your needs. There is one distinct difference between the two and that is how they are powered.
Gas models are costly because you need to fuel them, but there are no cords, and they provide quite a bit more power than their electric counterparts. Electric pressure washers are generally corded but can come with batteries. The cleaning power also tends to be a notch below what you would get out of a gas model.
Cleaning Power
Speaking of cleaning power, you need to know how to compare that cleaning power between units. This is measured in pounds per square inch (PSI) and gallons per minute (GPM). The higher those two numbers are, the faster and better it will be at cleaning. Just keep in mind that it also equates to higher costs as well.
Light duty pressure washers generally fall around 1900 PSI at the most and up to 2 GPM. Medium duty goes up to around 2700 PSI and 3 GPM. Those are the best for shop and home use, cleaning virtually everything around your home or property. Anything more gets into heavy-duty pressure washing and commercial, which is beyond what a homeowner would require.
Washer Nozzles
Finally, you need to consider what kind of nozzles will go best for the kind of job you’re doing. Different spray patterns will get the best results for certain jobs. There are five (generally) universal spray tips to choose from, each one coming with a different pattern. Even better, they are color-coded.
Red (0 degrees) are the most concentrated and powerful. Yellow nozzles (15 degrees) are for heavy-duty tasks. Green (25 degrees) are for general cleaning and white nozzles (40 degrees) are for patio furniture, vehicles, boats, and surfaces that can be easily damaged. Finally, there is the black nozzle (65 degrees) are the lowest-pressure, typically for applying soap and cleaning agents. Having a multitude of nozzles is a good idea, providing greater versatility and flexibility than you would get by just having one type.
